For Employers

Guidance for businesses offering work to people coming from Ukraine

If you are offering employment opportunities, the Government would be grateful if you could complete the Vacancy information questionnaire, so they can understand more about your offer.

After you have returned the questionnaire to offerwork@homeoffice.gov.uk, your organisation will be contacted by the National Employer and Partnership Team in the Department for Work and Pensions within 5 working days, to discuss the roles available.

Job opportunities will then be shared across the DWP Jobcentre Plus network and with the Refugee Employment Network (REN), a charity which works with organisations across the UK to support refugees into work.

T-Levels

T Levels are a key part of the government’s reforms to revolutionise skills and technical education, generating the skilled workforce that businesses need for the future and giving students the experience they need to progress into well-paid jobs, further study or an apprenticeship.

Industry placements form a key component of T Level courses, with students spending at least 45 days (or 315 hours) with an employer. They offer local businesses an excellent chance to nurture and build a skilled talent pipeline for the future, while helping to level up opportunities as we recover from the pandemic. Students gain vital hands-on experience and invaluable insight of the world of work, setting them up for success in the next steps of their career.

Find out the next steps: Next steps | T Levels

Supporting Schools

Preparing for work starts in schools. Local schools and colleges are always on the lookout for local employers to support their career programmes. This can include career talks, mock interviews, enterprise days, work experience and more. You can make a difference to the future workforce.

You could even become an Enterprise Adviser (EAs). EAs are matched with a local secondary school or college's leadership team, and work strategically to bridge the gap between the world of work and careers education.

The Enterprise Adviser programme:
- increases engagement young people have with the world of work
- helps students raise their career aspirations
- provides an employer's perspective on industry and current recruitment practices
- raises the profile on lesser-known sectors in the region
- supports schools/colleges to embed labour market information into the classroom

Get in touch to find out how you can get involved. Email business@harborough.gov.uk

Sector-based Work Academies

Sector-based work academies are designed to help meet your immediate and future recruitment needs as well as to recruit a workforce with the right skills to sustain and grow your business. If you have vacancies coming up, consider using one of these.

A sector-based academy can last up to 6 weeks. Placements have 3 main components:

1. pre-employment training – relevant to the needs of your business sector
2. work experience placement – of great benefit to the individual and a business
3. a guaranteed job interview

In England, sector-based work academy training is fully funded through the Skills Funding Agency and delivered by further education colleges and training providers. The training will enable participants to undertake units on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).

You can find out more here but please get in touch with the Economic Development Team at business@harborough.gov.uk if this is something you would like to explore further.

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships can bring fresh new ideas to your businesses and are a great way to train new or existing staff with skills tailored to your business. For apprenticeships to be successful in your organisation they need to be high quality opportunities but there is plenty of support available to help you. This includes help with finding the right standard and training provider, recruitment, funding and more.

Funding options:

• If you do not need to pay the levy; You pay 5% towards the cost of training and assessing your apprentice. If you employ fewer than 50 employees then the government will pay 100% of the costs of apprenticeship training up to the funding band maximum for apprentices aged: 16 to 18 or 19 to 24 with an education, health and care plan provided by their local authority or has been in the care of their local authority.

• If you pay the levy; You’ll receive funds to spend on training and assessing your apprentices. The government will add 10%.

• Incentive payment of £1,000 for hiring an apprentice: aged 16 to 18 years old or aged 19 to 24 with an education, health and care plan or who has been in the care of their local authority

The team can support you with navigating the apprenticeship process, along with our partners. Get in touch today to find out if an apprenticeship is right for your organisation and take the first steps on your apprenticeship journey.

Email business@harborough.gov.uk

Flexi-job Apprenticeship Offer

Applications for new organisations to join the register opened on Friday 28 April 2023. Applications must be submitted no later than 10am on Wednesday 31 May 2023 via the Department for Education e-tendering portal (Jaggaer).

Sectors including the creative, agriculture and construction industries can now bid for a share of a £7 million fund to support the creation of new flexible apprenticeships, unlocking more opportunities for people to develop the skills they need to get good jobs.

Apprenticeships are at least 12 months long, so some sectors with flexible employment patterns and short-term roles, such as digital, adult social care, transport and manufacturing have found it challenging to benefit from the high-quality opportunities available.

For example, this would enable an apprentice working in film, TV or theatre to work on different productions during their apprenticeship, or an apprentice in construction to fulfil several contracts to complete their apprenticeship – such as working on a home refurbishment or a project for an office block. Meanwhile, someone working in adult social care could undertake care placements with a range of employers – including home care via a care agency, and in nursing home or hospice settings.

Leicester Employment Hub

The Leicester Employment Hub undertakes a range of activities to drive up demand for the full range of national and local employment and training opportunities. It works directly with local businesses (especially SMEs) to increase demand for:

• Apprenticeships
• Traineeships
• Work experience
• Internships
• Volunteering
• Work placements opportunities

The project also adds capacity to and complements the work of the Education Skills Funding Agency and local apprenticeship training providers.

The Employment Hub have a job listings page where you can add your organisations vacancies for free: www.leicesteremploymenthub.co.uk/vacancy-listing

Find out about our partner organisations

The Construction Hub

As a construction Employer, do you struggle to recruit the right people for your business who come with some basic skills?

If so, the Leicester Onsite Construction HUB is a funded project that can supply you with individuals to trial that have completed a tailored construction training programme, before committing to taking them on.

Individuals that come from the HUB will have successfully completed 5 days of training to gain Construction related skills and awareness such as:

• CSCS Touch Screen Test (to gain a Green CSCS Card)
• Health & Safety Awareness
• Asbestos Awareness
• Underground and Overhead Awareness
• Abrasive Wheels
• Working at Height (including Ladders)
• COSHH
• Handheld Power Tools and PPE
• Manual Handling
• Risk Awareness

Individuals are of varying ages, with varying levels of experience, from recently completing their training, to having years of experience in the industry.

No matter the level of role you are looking to recruit for, the HUB will have individuals that are suitable, that come with the above skills as a minimum.

For more information email richard.thorpe@leicester.gov.uk or call 07541 612726.

The Construction Leadership Council’s Talent Retention Scheme

The Construction Leadership Council’s Talent Retention Scheme helps talented individuals showcase their experience and expertise while helping businesses find the skills they need.

• They can support corporate redeployment, recruitment and skills development activities across all sectors of construction
• Tailored company pages and microsites to promote your business, services, latest vacancies, news and events
• Simple, easy to use platform which enables companies to search for and recruit quality individuals and promote an unlimited number of vacancies

University of Leicester

The University of Leicester has a worldwide reputation for top quality teaching and research and is consistently ranked as one of the most socially inclusive universities in the UK. They have a long-standing commitment to providing fairer and equal access to higher education and we are proud of their diverse student population.

The Graduate Outcomes Team are able to provide your organisation with a tailored package of support and advice to meet your recruitment needs. Learn more by browsing the links on their website, or contact them at employer.services@le.ac.uk

De Montfort University

De Montfort University (DMU) can support you to recruit or work with their students and graduates through the pathways below:

• Funded internships
• Recruit their students or graduates
• Placements
• Recruit temporary staff
• Mentoring
• They are happy to have a chat about other options that may not be listed here

De Montfort University also offers Higher and Degree Apprenticeships, bringing together the best of university-based professional and technical education.

Higher and Degree Apprenticeships provide your business with the opportunity to train individuals who work full-time in your organisation, while studying for a university qualification that is relevant to their job. Their time will comprise of 80% on-the-job training and 20% off-the-job training.

Inclusive Employers: Support for Ex-Offenders

Leicester City Council have a recently dedicated resource to focus on bringing together skills and recruitment offers across Leicester/Shire in an attempt to improve employment opportunities for ex offenders and champion inclusive employers; Mandeep Kaur at the Employment Hub would like to learn more about local organisations and share with you what’s coming up on the project. Email Mandeep.Kaur2@leicester.gov.uk to find out how you could get involved.